LORD – I struggled with her yesterday –I was cranky for no good reason –Sometimes I forget my flesh is there –But You reveal my adversary to me –Oft she may assert herself –Though I may not detect her there –Yesterday she wished I wouldStep out of her wayForgive me for the times I let her shoveYou off Your throne – I don’tWant her there – she doesn’t care –She seeks control – she hates me –She doesn’t like You either – LORD –When she gets the upper handIn me – I’m sure to shame Your name –Forgive me for that LORDJesus – I know in me – in my flesh that is –There is no good thing – I speakOf her – LORD – I once was she –I gave her domain to You –Jesus – She’d like to take itAway from You – She wantsMe to agree with her decree –But I say – no way
Thank you – LORD – for Your Spirit in me –Shining light on her – showingHow she catches me unaware –When she rattles her cage to be free –Demanding her own way – seekingHer old familiar territory –When I praise you – LORD –She flees from meThank You LORD for triumph –I’m born ofThe Spirit – not the flesh – destinedFor new life in Christ – I anticipateA better day – forever – so IGroan within myself for change –For the redemption of my body whenThis mortal dons immortality in theTwinkling of an eye –

Romans 7:18-25 – The Bible (NIV) – For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Romans 8:1-4 – The Bible (NIV) – There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Romans 8:18-23 – The Bible (KJV) – For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

John 3:3-8 – The Bible – (KVJ) – Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:49-53 – The Bible (KJV) – And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

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About Carol Ann Hoel

The new me - Carol Ann. More suitably said, the old me in new circumstances of life. Again. My history has developed in parts and chapters. In person, I am Wife, Mom, Grandma, Author, and Writer, in that order, more or less. Life is good because God is good.

22 Responses to Sometimes I Forget My Flesh Is There

Martin Luther presents that the Law is the Jewish Law and there are so many that they give us more things to violate as sin than we would think of otherwise( if my understanding is correct). That’s one reason Paul proclaimed that Jews need no longer follow the Law if guided by Christ through the Holy Spirit. Naturally the Jews felt this was blasphemous and Peter disagreed with Paul at this issue. I think Paul’s theology is very harsh here because he pounds in the total depravity of man and the dependence on Christ for redemption like John Calvin. I agree we need Christ but this has people running around with low self esteem and intense guilt. People that try to live Godly lives should not have to be made to condemn themselves all the time. I am not guilty of Adam’s sins but I understand the story there actually represents how we exclude God from our lives and that is the inherited sin of all.

When Paul talked about the law of sin and death, he was talking about the fact that the penalty for sin is death. Jesus died, suffering the penalty for all, so believers are not condemned. The Holy Spirit may convict us of wrongdoing, but His purpose is to turn us back to the right road, while the purpose of the Evil One’s message is to confuse us, make us feel guilty and condemned, and alienated from God. Believers are forgiven. Period. For everything. We may lose our way and walk far from our Lord, but believers are forgiven and not condemned. We don’t have to feel guilty, because Jesus took away all our guilt at Calvary.

The issue between Paul and Peter arose over Peter’s refusal to eat with the gentile believers in the presence of certain Jewish believers. Peter did not want to offend the Jewish believers. Paul reproved Peter for his hypocrisy. Peter had eaten regularly with the gentile believers before the Jews in question had arrived. Peter understood grace, that the Jewish ceremonial laws had been nailed to the cross, and that Jewish and gentile believers were equal. Peter knew that faith in Christ alone made one a believer.

Many Jewish believers were confused, and were teaching in the churches that gentiles had to follow the Jewish traditions and laws to become authentic Christians. This was false. This doctrine was a mix of law and grace.

Yes, there is hope in God. We are not condemned, but only corrected. Think of your own children. When they disappoint you and they’re sorry, you forgive them. When they aren’t sorry, you don’t disown them. You love them. God may discipline us for our own good when we outright refuse to obey Him, but He never leaves us or withholds His love and forgiveness.

I’ve read some logical teachers that say we cannot disappoint God. Here is the reason. To disappoint means to fall short of another’s expectations. God is all-knowing. He has no unreal expectations of us. At Calvary, He paid it ALL. Blessings to you, Janna…

Hi, Trisha. Thank you for your comment. I’ve probably unintentionally confused a lot of people by this post. I’ll try to clear it up.

I referred to my old nature as if it were the “old” me. SHE (as referred to in my poem) will never learn. “She” in the poem is my old, unregenerate nature bent toward sin. For now it is my responsibility to allow Jesus to rule in my heart. If I follow my old nature, I will make wrong choices. Yet, I am forgiven, because of Jesus. When we go to Heaven and live forever, we will not have the old nature anymore. God will remove it from us. We will be perfect, without the old inclination to do wrong. What a wonderful future to embrace! Think of it, Trisha. No more evil.

It’s true. When I heard that Jesus, the Son of God, died for me on the cross, so that my sins could be forgiven, I had to decide to believe it or not, to accept Jesus as my own personal Savior and LORD, or not. I was young when I first believed. God makes it simple enough for a child to trust Jesus. I had to learn God’s ways throughout the years, but I became His child forever on the day I first believed. Blessings to you, Trisha…